Bhattacharya Gives Senate A Glimpse Of Changes Being Made At NIH
Some of the reforms underway include centralized peer review, a new analytic office, stronger oversight, and a unified funding strategy to better align investments with national health priorities, MedPage Today reported. Plus, news about the FDA's drug voucher program.
MedPage Today:
NIH Chief Details Plans for Modernization at Senate Hearing
The NIH must be structurally overhauled to deliver more cures, spend taxpayer dollars more wisely, and regain public trust, NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, said Tuesday during a Senate hearing on modernizing the agency. In the wide-ranging Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions hearing, Bhattacharya outlined his plan to make NIH more accountable, better coordinated, and more focused on measurable impact for patients. (McCreary, 2/3)
More from Capitol Hill —
The Hill:
Senate Democrats Warn Equifax Against Price Gouging States, Medicaid Beneficiaries
A trio of Senate Democrats are warning the consumer credit reporting agency Equifax against price gouging for its services as a significant number of Medicaid beneficiaries are expected to go into the job market to find employment in order to keep receiving benefits under the new requirements passed in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). In a letter first shared with The Hill, Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) warned Equifax CEO Max Begor against surging prices on state governments that will soon need to verify beneficiaries’ work, volunteer or school attendance. (Choi, 2/3)
AP:
FDA's Drug Voucher Program: House Lawmaker Raises New Concerns
A Democratic lawmaker raised new concerns about a Food and Drug Administration program designed to drastically shorten the review of certain drugs, including whether senior officials involved in the effort are complying with federal ethics rules. In a letter sent Tuesday, Rep. Jake Auchincloss of Massachusetts took issue with the lack of transparency in FDA’s handling of the program and questioned its legal underpinnings, noting that Congress did not sign off on the plan. (Perrone, 2/3)
More about fast-tracking drugs and the high cost of medicine —
Stat:
Marty Makary Addresses Staff Concerns Over Drug Voucher Program
At an employee town hall on Tuesday, Food and Drug Administration leaders tried to quell staff and external concerns about a controversial new program to fast-track certain drugs. (Lawrence, 2/3)
Stat:
Fast-Track Review Of Psilocybin Depression Drug Blocked
Trump administration officials vetoed the Food and Drug Administration’s plan to fast-track the review of a psychedelic treatment for severe depression, STAT has learned, highlighting possible internal discord between senior leadership and the Make America Healthy Again movement. (Lawrence, Chen and Garde, 2/4)
Bloomberg:
Trump’s Attempt to Make Drugs Cheaper Is Pushing Up Prices in Other Countries
For the past few years, Swiss oncologist Christoph Renner has treated blood cancer patients with Lunsumio, a new drug that helps the immune system recognize and destroy malignant cells. Then, last summer, Renner got an email from Roche Holding AG, Lunsumio’s manufacturer, informing him the treatment would no longer be available in Switzerland because health insurers there wouldn’t pay for the infusions. “You see what’s possible,” says Renner, a professor at the University of Basel, “and then you’re told you can’t use it.” (Kinzelmann, 2/4)
The New York Times:
Novo Nordisk Warns Of First Sales Drop Since Start Of Ozempic
Novo Nordisk, the Danish pharma pioneer behind Ozempic, is in for a bruising year. The company’s shares plunged on Wednesday after the drugmaker said that it expected sales to fall this year as it faces stiff competition in weight-loss drugs and lower prices, in part because of a deal agreed with the White House. For Novo, that would mark the first decline in annual sales since 2017, the year before it began selling Ozempic. (Nelson, 2/4)
In other health news about the Trump administration —
Undark:
The Unlikely New Director Of U.S. Environmental Health Research
When Organizations need to make an announcement they hope the public won’t pay much attention to, they often drop the news right before the weekend. On a Friday afternoon this past October, in the middle of a government shutdown, the National Institutes of Health director, Jay Bhattacharya, emailed his agency with unexpected news: Kyle Walsh, an epidemiologist, would become director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Toxicology Program. (Schulson, 2/4)
The New York Times:
‘Biblical Diseases’ Could Resurge In Africa, Health Officials Fear
Parasites and infections that cause blindness and other disabilities were nearly eliminated in some countries, but drug distribution to prevent and treat them was derailed in many places in 2025 after the U.S. cut aid. (Nolen, 2/3)
